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Friday Night Lights: Taylor Kitsch Just Wants to Huddle

No, it's not Tom Brady with long hair. It's F.N.L. star Taylor Kitsch. *Photograph by Mark Abrahams/Management Artists Syndication.*VF Daily's Q&A series features interviews with the top talent from television's best shows. NBC's Friday Night Lights is a football drama set in a small town in Texas. It airs Friday nights at nine p.m. E.S.T. Check in with VF.com every Friday for F.N.L. interviews.

Taylor Kitsch plays Tim Riggins, the Dillon Panthers' fullback who has dirty hair, abundant charm, and bad intentions. In the past three seasons of Friday Night Lights, Riggins has seduced the town sweetheart, dallied with a single mom, and encountered innumerous "rally girls." He's the archetype rascal, and Kitsch plays him to perfection. Tonight, Riggins strolls dangerously close to the V.F. office in the episode "New York, New York." Today, Kitsch tells VF Daily he's more than just "that guy on the show that's always shirtless."

VF Daily: Were you a Riggins in high school?

Taylor Kitsch: No. Fuck no! I wish! I live vicariously through him. I think a lot of people live vicariously through Riggs.

Doesn't everyone?

[Laughter] Exactly! You know? He's a lot of fun to play. I just feel so comfortable with him. I trained in improv and I love to throw curveballs at the other actors. It really makes it. A lot of times I'll throw just absurd stuff at Kyle Chandler [Coach Taylor] and, also, Derek Phillips, who plays my brother. He'll ask me something simple, and I'll come back with something ridiculous, just to see what he can do. There's no rehearsals, right? So that's why I can getcha. You just have no fucking idea what I'm going to say.You ad lib a lot. What's your favorite thing that you've gotten onto the show?

"No regrets." Every time I say that, it's not written.

Really? That's a catchphrase. It's up there with "Texas forever."

Yep. That's me. Also, I started saying everyone's number as their name in the very first season. Like, "Two Zero," "Six," "Seven."

Has there ever been something you've resisted doing on the show?

Yeah. They want me shirtless a lot of the time and I battle tooth and nail against that. When it's called for, it's O.K. But I don't need to be driving shirtless. Are we doing a fucking calendar shoot, or are we actually doing Tim Riggins driving? I believe I'm 100 percent right in this regard: less is more. I don't want to be known as that cat, you know? Just that guy on the show that's always shirtless.

And there was that point in the season when you took off your pants by the refrigerator.

I loved that. That wasn't written. I started the scene outside the door. As Riggins, I said to myself "Why the fuck am I in these clothes?" before I opened the door. So, when I opened the fridge, in my head, I was like, "Get these clothes off."

What was it like filming the "New York, New York" episode?

Favorite one! I had so much fun doing that. When you go to the same sets and you're shooting in the same places, it's kind of monotonous at times. Shooting in New York, there's so much energy, especially playing a Texas kid who's never really left Dillon. The stakes were high, with it being Street's last episode. You just wanted to make it good.

How many takes did you do of the final scene with Street?

Because it was so emotional, we shot a lot of my stuff first. They cut it quite well, but it was to the point where Riggs was actually fucking weeping.

It feels really honest.

The cameras keep you honest. The cameras are so tight. You can't get through a scene with that kind of emotion without buying into it 100 percent. They will catch you.

Aside from F.N.L., you have a new project: Wolverine. It's your first major film role. How did it go?

I knew it was* the* gig, a once-in-a-lifetime kind of gig to get. I had an amazing time and I learned so many things from Hugh Jackman. We have really good chemistry. Hopefully, you'll see that. I was telling Hugh the other day: if I could have the same career path he's had with Wolverine, of playing this guy over the span of 10 years, that would be just a dream. I would murder to play Gambit again.